For Abilene Fire Department, it's two jobs in one

The view of the Fire Station No. 3 area looking west toward McMurry University from ladder truck bucket Monday night. The ladder extends 100 feet from the ground and would be used in aerial firefighting.(Photo: Greg Jaklewicz/Reporter-News)Buy Photo

Firefighters wear one hat — a helmet, actually — but these days, they have two significant jobs.

The Abilene Academy Class of 2018 on Monday pulled into Fire Station 3, one of three new facilities paid for by 2015 bond funds. The group quickly learned that firefighters answer far more medical and "other" calls than for fires.

In 2017, less than 500 of almost 14,000 incidents were for fires. More than 9,400 were calls for emergency medical service, with another 4,100 for non-fire and non-medical needs. Maybe even a cat stuck in a tree.

It was a quiet Monday evening in the city when the class met, with a call for Station 3 coming in just before 7 p.m. Sure enough, it was a medical call, nearby on Ross Avenue.

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Fire gear hangs near the Station No. 3 engine, ready for firefighters to wear when called to a fire scene.(Photo: Greg Jaklewicz/Reporter-News)

The calm Monday allowed participants to tour the station and to ascend up to 100 feet on a ladder truck, getting a view of Abilene that extended from the landfill to the northwest to the airport to the southeast.

Soon-to-retire Fire Chief Larry Bell, who has put in 35 years of service, first talked about the department's history and duties. Abilene was founded March 15, 1881, when town lots were sold. Five months later, the need for a fire-fighting plan came up after a big blaze downtown at First and Sycamore streets. A bucket brigade, not the most efficient firefighting method but better than nothing, was formed. A fire department formally was established in 1886.

As Abilene grew, so did the department, with horses first pulling equipment, and firefighting efforts improving when a water works system was added before the turn of the century.

By 1913, the first fire vehicle went into service and by 1918, the department was completely motorized.

Today, Abilene has eight stations — the same number the city had in the 1980s when Bell started. Yet the city has grown. That's why the city is looking ahead to adding another station farther south in the Wylie area and another in northeast Abilene, where considerable residential and business growth continues.

More immediate is using Station No. 8 on Buffalo Gap Road to its fullest capacity with two companies.

The other two new fire stations built with bond funds are No. 7 on North Pioneer Drive and No. 4 on Grape Street, past Interstate 20.

Each station has an engine, a roughly $650,000 piece of equipment, while three also have a ladder truck. Those also contain rescue equipment and go for twice the price. AFD also has specialty vehicles, such as brush and hazmat trucks.

That is why a plan is in place to put money each year into an apparatus fund, which currently stands at $2.8 million. Most firetrucks are good for 15 or so years, then another five or so in reserve. Two engine trucks are on order, with one due to go to Station No. 3.

"We don't have to worry about that year to year," Bell said of the savings account.

The department is funded for 183 positions (179 currently are filled) in two departments: emergency and support, which includes fire prevention.

Most often, there are almost four dozen personnel on duty in Abilene. Each engine that goes out has four firefighters, an officer and three others.

Bell bragged on his department's three emergency vehicle technicians because a firetruck cannot be out of service long.

He also talked about the department's "other job" serving as first-responders on medical calls. When he started, there was an awareness that firefighters needed some medical training to save lives but it was more first aid. Through the years, the training has been ramped up and many firefighters are paramedics. They'll have a red patch on their right sleeve.

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Kelly Davis, one of the crew on duty Monday at Station No. 3, demonstrates how emergency care would be given to a man (a mannequin, in this case) having a heart attack. Fire officials emphasized to Abilene Academy participants that timely care was essential in a positive outcome for the victim.(Photo: Greg Jaklewicz/Reporter-News)

There is a lead paramedic, called a field response medic.

Bell turned over his talk to Derek Briggs.

Briggs, who spent the early part of his career on a ladder truck but confessed he's an "EMS geek as well," said it's important to sort out calls for medical assistance. The most important are serious injury and cardiac calls.

Academy participants were given a demonstration by the Station No. 3 crew on duty Monday night. A life-sized mannequin was used, along with a $35,000 cardiac monitor.

Firefighters are able to transmit valuable data to a hospital even before a patient is taken there. Time, Briggs emphasized, is the enemy of the patient.

Bell was asked about a new high school program that will prepare students for careers in firefighting. He said the immediate goal is that upon graduation, a student has basic structural firefighting and EMT skills. The bigger goal is they take jobs here, providing for a diverse and well-trained department.

"I am very optimistic," he said.

Looking around the firetruck bay Monday, Bell obviously was pleased with the new facility and his department's statewide reputation.

"We have a great fire department. I'm not just staying that because I'm the chief," he said. "The level and quality of service is the best.

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Firefighter Randell Clark, left, talks about what the ladder truck from Station No. 1 carries and can do during Monday's Abilene Academy tour of Station No. 3, one of the city's three new facilities. Greg Jaklewicz/Reporter-News

Kelly Davis, one of the crew on duty Monday at Station No. 3, demonstrates how emergency care would be given to a man (a mannequin, in this case) having a heart attack. Fire officials emphasized to Abilene Academy participants that timely care was essential in a positive outcome for the victim. Greg Jaklewicz/Reporter-News

Justin Riley, from Station No. 1, operates the ladder Monday evening. Abilene Academy participants were taken up more than 100 feet in pairs to get an idea of what firefighting would look, and feel, like at that height. Greg Jaklewicz/Reporter-News

A ladder truck from Station No. 1 came to Station No. 3 for Monday night's Abilene Academy event. Participants two at a time were taken up, more than 100 feet, to experience how this piece of equipment is used for aerial firefighting. Greg Jaklewicz/Reporter-News

The view of the Fire Station No. 3 area looking west toward McMurry University from ladder truck bucket Monday night. The ladder extends 100 feet from the ground and would be used in aerial firefighting. Greg Jaklewicz/Reporter-News

A fire bell is seen in the hallway near living quarters at Station No. 3, not so much for looks but to prevent hurried firefighters from striking a glass partition when answering a call for service. Greg Jaklewicz/Reporter-News

►AFD's current budget is $19.6 million, with $17.1 million for personnel.

► No Abilene station has a fire pole, though there were three at the old main station on Mulberry Street.

► There have been two female firefighters in the AFD, none currently.

► There are 88 paramedics in the local department, almost half the total number of firefighters.

► Firefighters enjoy eating well and usually find someone on duty who's a great cook. But they try not to spend much money, maybe $40 a day. They are as frugal as other shoppers at local grocery stores.

► An engine truck carries 500 gallons of water, which can last 2-3 minutes. A ladder truck carries 300 gallons. The newest engines at Stations 5 and 8 have 750-gallon capacities, due to their more remote responses.

► At a fire scene, an "accountability report" is made every 20 minutes to update the fire and check on the well-being of each firefighter at the scene.

► Firefighters work 24 hours on and 48 off.

► Firefighter health is a great concern, especially sleep deprivation and cancer. With the toxicity of modern materials burning, even short exposures to smoke and fire byproducts are harmful. Stations also are equipped with exercise equipment, and firefighters are regularly tested for fitness.

► Interested in being a firefighter? AFD targets men and women ages 18 to 35.